Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger is unanimous choice as NL Rookie of the Year

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Dodgers first baseman/outfielder Cody Bellinger was named the National League Rookie of the Year on Monday. He’s the second consecutive Dodger to win the award, following shortstop Corey Seager. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

Then just 21 years old, Bellinger headed to Triple-A Oklahoma City out of spring training with modest goals for the 2017 season.

“A September call-up,” he said later. “That was the goal in spring training. Obviously I wanted to be up here earlier. But to be honest, the team that we had I just didn’t think there was a chance. Everything else that came this year has been crazy.”

That craziness was capped Monday when Bellinger was named the National League Rookie of the Year. The Dodgers first baseman-outfielder becomes the 18th player in franchise history to win the ROY, following immediately on the heels of 2016 winner, shortstop Corey Seager.

Like Seager, Bellinger was a unanimous choice, receiving all 30 votes in the NL balloting. He is the 22nd player (the 13th National Leaguer) to win the award unanimously since 1949.

“It’s a huge honor,” Bellinger said after the official announcement. “Now that the season’s over, I’m really trying to reflect on how crazy this season was. To have this award to top it off and be a part of those big-name guys (past winners) – it’s special to me.”

Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge was also a unanimous choice as the American League Rookie of the Year. It is the fourth time in the awards history that the winner in both leagues was a unanimous selection.

“Watching him from the West Coast, what he did on the East Coast was awesome. I was a big fan of his,” Bellinger said of Judge who broke the major-league rookie record with 52 home runs. “I got to meet him at the All-Star Game and he’s a humble dude. I think we’re both reflecting now that the season’s over on the kind of seasons we had.”

Bellinger’s call to the big leagues came much earlier than September. He made his major-league debut on April 25 in San Francisco after outfielder Joc Pederson went on the DL with a groin injury. He hit his first home run in his fifth game – and his second later in the same game. It was the first of six multi-homer games for Bellinger, who hit 19 in his first 50 big-league games.

“For me, obviously now in the big leagues there’s so much video to where you can study a pitcher you haven’t faced before and I tried to take full advantage of that,” Bellinger said. “Whether it was working in the cage or on the computer, it’s all the same. I just tried to be consistent with it.”

Bellinger bounced between the outfield and first base for awhile before taking over from injured veteran Adrian Gonzalez at first base. By the All-Star break, he had established himself as one of the league’s top power hitters. Bellinger made the NL All-Star team by the player vote, becoming the youngest position player in Dodgers history to make the All-Star team.

“I think the veterans on the team have helped him immensely – how to go about preparing and how to handle success, struggles, how to handle this market, how to handle being a major-league player,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

“Cody himself is really – in his make-up, his DNA – just is really even-keeled, and he knows he belongs here, and knew that early on. He has the talent.”

When Bellinger was promoted from Triple-A in April, the Dodgers were 9-11. With Bellinger in their starting lineup, the Dodgers went 89-38 the rest of the way.

Bellinger broke the National League rookie record for home runs, finishing with 39, and had the fourth-highest slugging percentage (.581) for an NL rookie since 1901. He led the Dodgers in home runs, RBIs (97), runs scored (87), slugging percentage and total bases (279) despite spending the first 20 games in the minors. He is the first rookie to lead a 100-win team in both home runs and RBIs.

“The future is bright in L.A. Not even just us,” Bellinger said when asked about following Seager as Rookie of the Year in the NL. “The whole team is pretty young and we’ve got the right veteran guys with a great coaching staff. I know that I’m excited as well as my other teammates.”

Bill Plunkett has covered everything from rodeo to Super Bowls to boxing (yeah, I was there the night Mike Tyson bit Evander Holyfield's ear off) during a career that started far too long ago to mention and eventually brought him to the OC some time last century (1999 actually). He has been covering Major League Baseball for the Orange County Register since 2003, spending time on both the Angels and Dodgers beats.